In the early hours of the morning, November 9, 2025, I was going through some old journal entries and discovered that it was on this date in 2018 that our family left to spend a week in warm, sunny Aruba. My daughter, Jessica, was on Hospice and wanted to get back there one last time. Reading through entries from that week away brought me to tears yet also reminded me that we were able to be present with each other in a very difficult time.
Everything in me knew the end was near yet I couldn’t say the words. I was in denial. I know now that this was a way to protect myself. I also know there is no way to avoid grief.
So here I am 6 years after her death. Grief is different now. I won’t say that “time heals”, but I will say that time “changes”. I have learned that we can carry grief along with us in our life as we move forward.
“So, on the hard days, you must remind yourself You wouldn't trade the love to escape the grief. You wouldn't erase the happiness to avoid the pain. And you will endure a lifetime of missing, for the privilege of having loved.”
-Jameson Arasi
